Hazel Park man charged with child porn distribution

A Hazel Park man faces multiple child pornography charges after police say another man’s cell phone was found in a motel room in Sallisaw, Okla., that contained images of sexual assaults on children which originated from the suspect’s phone.

Marc Barron, 43, was later found to have several cell phones he used to distribute child pornography pictures and videos when police arrested him at his Hazel Park home last week.

“The images are disgusting,” said Oakland County Sheriff Michael Bouchard. “At the most basic level, he was looking to trade and traffic in not only sexually abusive pictures of children, but images of children being sexually assaulted.”

The suspect is accused of using cell phones and social media to obtain and distribute the child pornography.

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Inside Barron’s home, Bouchard said investigators found children’s drawings scribbled on the walls.

“One room looked almost like an elementary schoolroom with cursive lettering examples on the wall,” he said.

The investigation started in November after an employee found the cell phone at a Days Inn motel in Sallisaw, Okla., and contacted local police there, said Oakland County Undersheriff Mike McCabe.

The child porn images originated from a phone number within Oakland County that belongs to Barron, police said.

The man whose cell phone was found in the Oklahoma motel room is being prosecuted by local authorities there.

Information from the Oklahoma case was turned over to the Oakland County Sheriff’s Computer Crimes Unit. The crime unit handled the months’ long investigation and issued warrants to determine the owner of the phone from which the child porn was sent.

Barronwas arrested April 9 and held at the Oakland County Jail. In a video arraignment three days later before Hazel Park 43rd District Magistrate James Paterson, Barron was charged with six counts of using a computer to commit a crime, three counts of distributing child sexually abusive material, and three counts of possessing child pornography.

Barron is jailed on $500,000 cash bond. He faces a preliminary examination in Hazel Park District Court at 12:30 p.m. May 7.

Investigators are still examining evidence taken from Barron’s house and there may be additional charges against him later, Bouchard said.